Rónán Mullen (Independent)

There is no way in which EU law on this point can be said to apply differently in this State because we have a different constitutional position. If it is the Constitution which presents an obstacle, one cannot cite EU law and nor can one cite the European Convention on Human Rights. A ban on corporate donations either is or is not possible under EU or convention law. The bottom line, as Senator van Turnhout observed, is that there is no obstacle in European law. The question is whether there is an obstacle under the Constitution.

I have said, subject to a closer examination of the matter, that Article 40, to which the Minister referred, relates to personal rights. He has not cited any case law. Rather, he is asking us to take his word for it that he has been advised legally that this would not fly from the point of view of the Constitution. I am not asking him to introduce a constitutional amendment, but in the absence of any case law or any indication that the courts have ever suggested this, the appropriate course is for the Minister to indicate his preference in terms of policy.

If it is his preference that corporate donations be banned then the appropriate route is to legislate for that. If it is not, I will respect that and we will argue the toss; I am not seeking to undercut his opinion or claim I am automatically right. If he secures the support of the Houses in legislating for a ban, it will be a matter then for Uachtaráin na hÉireann to take counsel from the Council of State and to decide whether to refer the Bill to the Supreme Court under Article 26 of the Constitution. The alternative, where the Minister's legal advice is unseen by us and he is telling us there is some type of legal or constitutional argument, is entirely unsatisfactory. We have just shown that there cannot be any European law-based argument against the provision, although the Minister suggested there was.